<p>I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong on the FAFSA. It gives me the error "You reported a total amount from the parents' additional financial information fields that is high for the other income amounts reported."</p>
<p>I (the father) received a W-2 for some work I did during the year, and I receive 1099s for other work. My AGI is $29,574 from my 1040.</p>
<p>What do I put in the "How much did your father earn from working (wages, salaries, tips, etc.) in 2010?" field? Just the amount from my W-2 (which is around $12,000)? or the total on my 1040 which is around $31,000? The help box on the FAFSA says Use Lines: 7 + 12 + 18* + Box 14 [Code A] of IRS Schedule K-1 (Form 1065).</p>
<p>I get the error when I put either number in there. Could it be that my child support that I pay is too high compared to my income?</p>
<p>Is that right? Maybe the form is coded to reject an amount in the income from work field that’s greater than AGI. In your case, it seems you should enter $31K in the income from work field, even though it’s greater than your AGI. </p>
<p>Have you tried calling the FAFSA help line?</p>
<p>Do you report your 1099’s on a schedule C. You should add the total of your income from employment (the W2s) to the net income from the schedule C (the amount you have left after subtracting out all deductions) – together that is the the total income earned from work. </p>
<p>
No, that’s not the case because AGI can be less than income from work due to various deductions that can be taken. (AGI is the amount left over after you have subtracted out things like deductions for contributions to a tax-deferred retirement account, 1/2 of self-employment tax, etc.). My AGI was always lower than the total earned from work, as my only earned income is from self-employment. So that’s not what is triggering the OP’s error message.</p>